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So the climate march was big, almost 400,000 in New York. Will it change anything? Did 500,000 marchers stop the Iraq war from going forward? Well the UN Secretary marched in this one, but I’m afraid climate change will be addressed locally for the next who knows how many years. Nothing will change in Washington. We need Democratic presidents to continue to be elected until the Supreme Court can be changed, so that gerrymandering can be legally ceased, and this the balance of power (one person = one vote) can be restored. Right now Republicans hold a hugely unfair advantage in many rust belt and mid Atlantic states because of the way districts are drawn at the state rep level and the congressional level. I weep when I think of how long it will take for our political apartheid (marginalizing Democratic majorities) to be rectified. This will be a 50-100 year war, I am afraid. The stakes are high. The powerful never relinquish willingly.

On this first day of autumn we send positive thoughts for a rapid recovery to our Frugalchariot

Autumn

The morns are meeker than they were,
The nuts are getting brown;
The berry’s cheek is plumper,
The rose is out of town.
The maple wears a gayer scarf,
The field a scarlet gown.
Lest I should be old-fashioned,
I’ll put a trinket on.

310k plus and there was almost no coverage of it in Sunday shows….nothing…. corporate agenda showing.

Last evening at gym I look at the CNN TV and there were three ex-soldiers all waxing on about the ISIS strikes. I didn’t read their words, didn’t need to – they are giving the watching public what they want, have to keep pumping money into the armed forces, look at the cool stuff we can do, blowing shit up from half way around the world….. to ‘keep us safe’ … because the people we blow up get really pissed off at us and want to blow us up…. (I added that last bit – they would never say that – but wait look at the drone – isn’t that cool?)

He’s passed the critical phase for a second stroke, and his BP is falling steadily. He’s had bunches of tests regarding the cholesterol issue, and they are awaiting results.

He’s making great progress in physical and speech therapy, and may be able to walk normally by Halloween — although I wouldn’t be surprised if he exceeds that expectation, since he’s in such great shape. 🙂

“We must begin by acknowledging the hard truth: We will not eradicate violent conflict in our lifetimes. There will be times when nations — acting individually or in concert — will find the use of force not only necessary but morally justified.

I make this statement mindful of what Martin Luther King Jr. said in this same ceremony years ago: “Violence never brings permanent peace. It solves no social problem: it merely creates new and more complicated ones.” As someone who stands here as a direct consequence of Dr. King’s life work, I am living testimony to the moral force of non-violence. I know there’s nothing weak — nothing passive — nothing naïve — in the creed and lives of Gandhi and King.

But as a head of state sworn to protect and defend my nation, I cannot be guided by their examples alone. I face the world as it is, and cannot stand idle in the face of threats to the American people. For make no mistake: Evil does exist in the world. A non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler’s armies. Negotiations cannot convince al Qaeda’s leaders to lay down their arms. To say that force may sometimes be necessary is not a call to cynicism — it is a recognition of history; the imperfections of man and the limits of reason,” – Barack Obama, accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, December 10, 2009.